Premier League
Liverpool fans say sad farewell to ‘one of us’ Klopp
Liverpool fans were bidding farewell to their charismatic manager Juergen Klopp on Sunday with songs, murals and other tributes to an eight-year reign that brought the glory days back to one of England’s greatest clubs.
The bespectacled 56-year-old German was to manage his beloved Reds for the 491st and final time at 4 p.m. (1500 GMT) against Wolverhampton Wanderers in front of a sellout crowd at Anfield.
With the Premier League game itself largely irrelevant now Liverpool cannot win the title, all focus was on Klopp, who had fought back tears as fans serenaded him at his final away game.
“We’ll never see his like again … He’s one of us,” waxed John Pearman, founder of Liverpool fan magazine “Red All Over The Land” which brought out a special Klopp edition.
After leading the team to seven trophies, including Europe’s Champions League in 2019 and a first English league title in three decades in 2020, Klopp is leaving of his own volition to recharge his batteries.
KLOPP’S CITY
He has not said what he will do next, beyond ruling out managing another club in England, out of respect for the working class port city he came to love as his own.
“I could have grown up here,” he said in a club video.
“We gave Liverpool the best time of our life, and the other way round as well. I will never walk alone ever again in my life,” he added, alluding to the song by 1960s Liverpool band Gerry and the Pacemakers that became the club anthem.
It was not only success that endeared Klopp to fans.
They loved his passion and personality: fist-pumps at the end of games, bear hugs for players, time for charitable causes, indignant protests at dubious decisions, and insistence on a high-energy aggressive “gegenpress” style of football.
After decades of mediocrity, when arch-rivals Manchester United were the top dogs in England, Klopp restored Liverpool’s pride, his irrepressible zeal eclipsing other Premier League managers.
“Watching Klopp and so many of the incredible players he developed made me fall in love with football, making the fact he’s leaving hurt even more,” said 15-year-old fan Freddie Williams before the Wolves game.
“He’s given the fans what they’d been longing for the past 30 years, putting Liverpool back on top. The moments he’s created, the laughter he’s given us along with his immense success has made him irreplaceable at LFC.”
In pubs and back streets, supporters recalled their favourite Klopp moments: the four-goal comeback against Barcelona in a 2019 Champions League semi-final, a 7-0 drubbing of Manchester United in 2023, or his manic leaping charge across the pitch after a last-ditch winner against derby rivals Everton in 2018.
Ever the gentleman, Klopp later apologised for disrespecting Everton.
‘I’M IN LOVE’
The fans’ song for Klopp is a delirious version of the Liverpool-born Beatles’ “I Feel Fine”.
“I’m so glad that Juergen is a Red, I’m so glad he delivered what he said!” they chant.
“Juergen said to me ‘you know, we’ll win the Premier League you know’, he said so! I’m in love with him and I feel fine!”
Players, too, were emotional about the man who revived careers and made giants of the likes of Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk, while nurturing a plethora of new talent.
“He’s like a fatherly figure for everyone,” said 21-year-old midfielder Harvey Elliott. “An amazing person to be around. I’ve learned so much off him, I can’t be thankful enough.”
The German’s stay in Liverpool has also spawned a slew of new wall art. One of the latest murals shows a heroic-looking Klopp in black-and-white holding his hand to his chest against a backdrop of Liverpool’s red-and-white colours.
Above it are the words: “We believed”.
–Reuters
Thomas Partey, who formerly played for English Premier League soccer club Arsenal, has been charged with rape and sexual assault, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Friday.
Partey, a Ghana international, was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, with the charges relating to three women and the offences reported to have taken place between 2021 and 2022, the statement said.
Partey’s management did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He is due to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Aug. 5.
Partey, 32, was signed by Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for 50 million euros ($59 million) in October 2020 and became a key member of Arsenal’s first team.
He was first arrested in July 2022, though he was not named at the time and continued to play for Arsenal while investigations were ongoing.
-Reuters
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Five players including England forward Marcus Rashford and Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho have informed Manchester United that they wish to explore a future away from the Premier League side, a club source said on Friday.
Brazilian midfielder Antony, Dutch defender Tyrell Malacia and England international Jadon Sancho are also looking to leave the club, the source added.
Rashford, who has made more than 400 senior appearances for United, has fallen out of favour with manager Ruben Amorim, played for Aston Villa on loan while United had their worst-ever Premier League campaign, finishing 15th in the standings.
Amorim had called Rashford’s work rate into question, saying he would rather put a goalkeeper coach on the bench than a player not giving their all.
Rashford said he was feeling fitter and better since joining Villa, where he scored two goals in 10 league appearances.
United also failed to qualify for the Champions League as they lost the Europa League final 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. Garnacho, who was a late substitute in the final, voiced his displeasure on social media after the loss.
“Up until the final, I played every round helping the team, and today I play 20 minutes, I don’t know,” he wrote in a post . “The final will influence (my decision), but the whole season, the situation of the club.”
Sancho was on loan at Chelsea, where he made 31 league appearances last season. Antony, who joined United from Ajax Amsterdam in 2022 for a reported initial transfer fee of more than $100 million, scored five goals in 17 LaLiga appearances on loan at Real Betis.
Malacia joined Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on loan in February.
-Reuters
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes turned down the opportunity to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal in order to keep playing “at the highest level”, he said on Tuesday.
The Portuguese midfielder admitted that he had considered the move, which media reports said was worth four times his current salary, after being contacted by Al-Hilal’s president.
“There was that possibility, the president of Al-Hilal called me a month ago to ask me about it,” Fernandes, who is preparing to face Germany with Portugal, told reporters on Tuesday.
“It was a big offer, very ambitious. There was a waiting period for me to think about the future.”
Fernandes ultimately decided to stay at United and said he was motivated by his desire to continue playing at the top level and encouraged by his family and the club’s coach Ruben Amorim.
“I would be willing to do it if Manchester United thought so,” Fernandes added. “I spoke to the coach Ruben Amorim who really tried to talk me out of it. The club said they would not be willing to sell me, only if I wanted to leave.
“I spoke to my wife and family, and she asked me what my personal goals were in my career.
“It would have been easy to move there but I want to keep myself at the highest level, playing in the big competitions and I feel capable of it. I am happy with my decision.”
The 30-year-old Fernandes scored 19 goals and provided 19 assists in 57 appearances across all competitions for United last season, winning the club’s Player of the Year award for the fourth time.
However, it was a season to forget for the team, as they finished 15th in the Premier League, their lowest league finish in half a century, and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur.
-Reuters
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